Pile.



No. 639,884'. l Patented Dec. 26, |899.

1 s. K. Baumann.

PILE.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

SAMUEL K. BEHREND, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OFOOLUMBIA.

PILE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 639,884, dated December26, 1899.

Application filed April 18, 1899.

To a/ZZ whom, t may con/cern:

Beit known that I, SAMUEL K. BEHREND, a citizen of the United StatesofAmerica, residing at Washington, in the District of Oolumbia, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Piles, of which thefollowing is a specilication.

My invention relates to an improvement in piles, and it has to do moreparticularly with a pile adapted for the construction of cofferdams andsimilar means for facilitating the construction of sewers, open cuts,dikes, or the sinking of shafts in qnicksands or soft earth; and itconsists in a pile or piles constructed to fit each other at adjacentedges and have sliding relation, one with another, at such edges, butincapable of pulling apart sidewise or edgewise, and adapted to have aWater-tight joint formed between their ends and edges, whereby theslightest leak into the inclosure formed by a series of piles employedis absolutely precluded. This pro- Vision is a most important one inconstructions of this character for the reason that a small orificeaifords an inlet for sufficient Water and quicksand to make itdangerous, if not altogether impossible, to work in the inclosure. Thepresent arrangement is such that a species of tongue-and-groove joint ismade at the contiguous edges of the piles, and this joint is recessed toreceive a suitable packing, and preferably one which expands by theaction of moisture upon it. `The piles are made so as to prevent pullingapart edgewise or any lateral turning with relation to one another. Theyare made of different lengths, so that joints are broken betweenadjacent piles, and if need be some means is provided for preventing alateral collapse of the Walls formed by the connected piles, although inthis connection it may be said that it is perfectly possible to so formthese individual piles that any tendency to collapse is avoided,especially in the circular or rectangular inclosures made up of thesepiles.

With these objects in view my invention consists in certain novelfeatures of construction and combinations of parts, which will be morefully described hereinafter and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a detached view of one of thepiles. Fig. 2

serai No. 713,503. (No mini-.1.)

is a transverse section. Fig. 3 is a View of a series of these pilesjoined together to form a shaft or species of coder-dam, and Fig. 4 is aplan View thereof. Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view. Fig. 6 is adetail showing the ends of two of the brace-beams. detail inperspective, showing the adjacent ends of two piles; and Figs. 8 and 9are plan views illustrating two different arrangements of piling fordifferent purposes.

A' represents a pile. This is preferably made of steel from thirty tosixty feet in length, about ten or twelve inches wide, and fromfive-eighths to two and one-half inches thick in its diiferent parts.These dimensions are merely mentioned to give `an idea of the generalproportions contemplated; but they are not at all essential, and thewidest latitude is intended to be reserved for the construction of thesepiles; but they preferably differ in length in order to4 provide againstany two adjacent ones ending upon a level, the purpose being to breakjoints at all points where ends i meet for the obvious reason thatgreater strength is attained in that way than possibly could be in any,other. One edge l of each pile is made large enough so that its groove 2will embrace and form a sliding connection with the smaller or oppositeedge 3 of the next adjacent pile. 4These edges embrace each other tosuch an extent as toprevent any lateral displacement, and by theirabutment upon each other at their extreme outer edges any swinging orturning or lateral pull is absolutely prevented. Packing-groove 4 ismade in one of the edges of each pile, preferably the smaller edge 3,although it may be formed in either edge or partly in both. Thispacking-groove is intended to receive some packing material, such as arope 5, of cellulose or equivalent material, or, for that matter, awooden strip or cement, the object being to fill the packing-groove withsome material which will expand as soon as moisture comes vin contactwith it, so that a perfectly water-tight joint is formed throughout thelength of the joints. Similar packing material is of course insertedbetween the adjacent ends of the piles.

The invention contemplates a variety of uses, and prominently amongthese is the provision for forming a well or shaft of great Fig..7 is aIOO depthfor instance, where mineral deposits are found under a deepstrata of quicksand or soft earth in which it is impossible to make anexcavation-and in reaching to such a depth a series of piles are driventheir length, and they are arranged around an inclosure which may berectangular in shape, circular, or in any other form, and after acircuit of pilesis assembled and they are driven down their entirelengths then more piles are driven one after another, the lower end ofone upon the upper end ofthe other which it is to follow, and so onthroughout the entire series, the piles being selected always so as toinsure a breaking of joints, as previously explained.Y

As a means of insuring against the possibility of any collapse wherethepiles are put together in the form of an inclosure the in-4 sidebrace-beams 6 are placed at intervals, they resting upon shoulders 7 orprojections made upon the inner faces of certain of the piles. Thesebraces are preferably made in sections, one for each side, andconstructed to fit together at their ends. A

The piles when thus constructed are well adapted to the construction ofsewers through quicksands and other soft earth, and when `thus applied,of course, a complete inclosure is not formed; but two rows' of pilesare driven a suitable distance apart through a street, for instance, andthe material between these rows is pumped or excavated therefrom,whereupon the sewer is constructed, and the piles are in that instancepulled out, allowing In such construction the side branches and mainbranch and all may be inclosed and provided for by two continuous rowsof these piles. In fact, it is obvious that they may be so directed asto adapt them for any purpose of `this kind where it is impossible toeXcavate or build a sewer or foundation or reach to a great depthwithout the use of some sort of construction of this description.

It is evident that changes might be made in the form and arrangement ofthe several parts described without departing from the spirit and scopeof my invention, and hence I do not wish to limit myself to the exact 5oconstruction herein set forth; but,

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A pair of piles having a tongue-andgrooved connection, with apacking-groove formed between them.

2. A steel pile having an enlargement at each edge, one of which has agroove of Sunicient size to receive an edge of another pile 6o and theother edge having a packing-groove formed therein.

3. A rolled-steel pile having an enlargement at each edge, one of whichhas a groove of sufficient size to receive an edge of another pile and apacking-groove formed in one of the enlarged edges.

4. A pair of steel piles having sliding and locking connection with eachother, and a packing-groove formed between them 'and a 7o packingsubstance between the adjacent edges adapted to be expanded by moisture,whereby a water-tight joint is formed.

5. A series of piles having sliding and locking connection with eachother, with a packing between their adjacent ends.

6. A series of piles having sliding and locking connection with eachother and arranged to form an inclosure, certain of the piles havandbrace-bars fitted to the inner walls of the inclosure and resting uponsaid shoulders.

7. A series of piles having sliding and locking connection with eachother and arranged to form an inclosure, certain of the piles havandbrace-bars fitted to the inner walls of the inclosure and resting uponsaid shoulders, said brace-bars having interlocking ends adapted to besuperimposed upon each other, 9o

W. H. BADEN, VERNON E. Honours.

ing shoulders formed on their inner surfaces So 1ng shoulders formed ontheir inner surfaces

